85R1831 KSD-D
	By: Dale	H.B. No. 461

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to service of a temporary ex parte order issued in response
	to an application for a protective order in circumstances involving
	family violence.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 82.043, Family Code, is amended by
	adding Subsections (c-1), (c-2), (c-3), and (c-4) to read as
	follows:
	(c-1)  A constable's office or law enforcement agency with
	responsibility for serving a notice of an application for a
	protective order together with an associated temporary ex parte
	order issued under Section 83.001 shall:
	(1)  make the initial attempt to serve the notice and
	order, and two additional attempts if necessary, within the 48-hour
	period immediately following receipt of the notice and order by the
	office or agency;
	(2)  if the initial attempt to serve the notice and
	order is unsuccessful, make at least one of the subsequent two
	attempts at a different location than the location of the initial
	attempt, except as provided by Subsection (c-2); and
	(3)  send a copy of the notice and order to the
	respondent by first class mail to the respondent's last known
	mailing address within the 24-hour period immediately following
	receipt of the notice and order by the office or agency, unless
	personal service is completed during that period or a mailing
	address for the respondent is unknown.
	(c-2)  Subsection (c-1)(2) does not apply if a different
	location is unknown and cannot be identified through a background
	check of the respondent conducted by the constable's office or law
	enforcement agency.
	(c-3)  A constable's office or law enforcement agency that is
	unable to personally serve a notice of an application for a
	protective order and an associated temporary ex parte order issued
	under Section 83.001 within the 48-hour period required by
	Subsection (c-1) after at least three attempts made in compliance
	with Subsection (c-1) shall seek a court order authorizing the
	office or agency to serve the respondent by affixing the notice and
	order to the front door of the respondent's last known residence.
	The office or agency shall provide the court with a sworn statement
	that describes the efforts made to personally serve the respondent,
	including the times and locations of each attempt to provide
	personal service.
	(c-4)  If the court orders the alternate method of service
	described by Subsection (c-3), that method of service is sufficient
	to subject the respondent to being taken into custody for a
	violation of the temporary ex parte order that occurs after service
	of the order, as provided by Section 25.07, Penal Code, and Section
	11c, Article I, Texas Constitution.
	SECTION 2.  Section 82.043, Family Code, as amended by this
	Act, applies only to a notice of an application for a protective
	order and associated temporary ex parte order received by a
	constable's office or law enforcement agency on or after the
	effective date of this Act. An application for a protective order
	and associated temporary ex parte order received by a constable's
	office or law enforcement agency before the effective date of this
	Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the application and
	order are received, and the former law is continued in effect for
	that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.